Police seek gas-and-dash, hit-and-run suspect

Peel police are looking for the driver of a gold-coloured sedan suspected of filling his car without paying, before running down the gas station attendant as he fled.

Police were called to a Petro Canada gas station near Truscott Drive and Southdown Road in Mississauga shortly before 5 a.m. Friday morning. They arrived to find the 62-year-old gas station attendant lying injured on the road.

According to police, the victim had been attempting to confront a motorist he suspected of trying to flee without paying when he was struck.

"He was trying to get him out from the car," employee Falsal Khan told CTV Toronto. "He was trying to open the door and somehow the person was stronger than him and he just kept going."

The service station employee was rushed to a nearby hospital, and subsequently transferred to a Toronto trauma centre where he remains in critical condition.

The victim's identity has not been made public on the request of the family.

Investigators are appealing for any information about the suspect -- described as a male, black between 20- and 30-years-old -- or the gold coloured 4-door sedan he was last seen driving northbound on Southdown Road.

Police believe the vehicle may have been damaged in the incident.

Peel Regional Police said the suspect had covered both of his vehicle's licence plates with paper in an apparent attempt to escape from the gas theft unidentified. They said nearby cameras caught some of the action.

"We are trying to extract it and we are having our computer experts try to get exactly what was captured on the surveillance," Const. George Tudos said.

The suspect drove away from scene erratically and it is possible someone may remember seeing the vehicle near the scene. Patterson says anyone who saw the vehicle leave the scene, or someone later pulling something off of their licence plates, should contact police.

Anyone who witnessed the events prior to, during, or immediately after the incident is asked to contact the Peel Region Major Collision Bureau at (905) 453-2121, ext. 3710. Alternately, anonymous tips can be phoned in to Crimestoppers at at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), or submitted electronically.

Photos

A pair of glasses are left at the seen of a hit-and-run at a gas station in Mississauga on Friday, May 20, 2011.

A police officer surveys the scene of a gas robbery in Mississauga that sent an attendant to hospital in critical condition, Friday, May 20, 2011.

Police say a gas station employee tried to stop a man from driving away without paying for gas, and was struck by the fleeing vehicle, Friday, May 20, 2011.